en
Back to the list

John McAfee Exclusively: Why Users To Choose A Privacy Coin

08 August 2018 07:13, UTC
Daniil Danchenko

John McAfee is the well-known person in the IT world; he is a pioneer in the world of antivirus protection, maverick, and an adventurer. In the world of crypto he is as well known as in IT industry itself. His unique character, vast knowledge of the tech world and overall attitude have made quite a name for him. Bitnewstoday.com managed to get an exclusive interview with him, where we asked John a couple of questions about him, industry and his predictions.

Bitnewstoday.com: I think that pretty much everyone knows you as that guy with the antivirus, so I’ll keep “How do I delete McAfee antivirus” to myself. Instead, I’ll ask you one simple question. How and when your relationship with cryptocurrency and blockchain started?

John McAfee: I was first made aware of crypto in 2013 by a friend who was mining Bitcoin. I read Satoshi's white paper and immediately saw the world changing implications of the blockchain. I've been involved ever since.

Q: Oh, sounds cool! However, well, I think that I have to ask you this - do you have any crypto yourself? Also, how do you use it?

A: I hold a number of cryptocurrencies. Most are tokens created by companies that did an ICO and which I advised during their ICO process. I also hold Bitcoin and Ethereum which I use for a variety of purchases.

Q: Well, ok. But in this case I’ll ask you another question - you are a cybersecurity specialist and a pioneer in the industry. Crypto exchanges and crypto banks are getting hacked left and right, and they are an essential part of the crypto-economy ecosystem (at least for now). Do you have an idea how to fix them?

A: Cryptocurrency exchanges are being hacked almost weekly. They are obvious targets because the potential rewards for successful hackers are huge, so the security measures required by exchanges are extreme. Few exchanges understand the subtleties of cybersecurity well enough to provide reasonable protection for their users. This problem will worsen as exchanges grow in volume and the reward for hackers increases. The only solution is to await the arrival of truly functional distributed exchanges.

Q: Mr. McAfee, since you’re talking about distributed exchanges, I feel like I have to ask you about their counterparts, central banks. I think that you have heard about their plans - issuing their cryptocurrency. How is it going to affect the original blockchain based currencies?

A: I believe that central banks will issue their own cryptocurrencies. However, the crypto community has a huge number of alternatives and there in no way to force the adoption of such currencies, which I believe will be accompanied with restrictions, and will remove all privacy from the user.

Q: Well, since you mentioned alternatives - China’s Center for Information Industry Development started to publish their global Public Chain Technology Evaluation Index, where they evaluate crypto. Can you give us your top three cryptocurrencies according to their potential, utility, and innovation behind them?

A: There are too many excellent cryptocurrencies to choose my top three, however, I think that users will eventually migrate to one of the privacy coins. When users understand that anyone who has your wallet address, with Bitcoin or Ethereum, can look in your wallet to see how much you have and how much is coming into or going out of your wallet, will eventually choose a privacy coin.

Q: We are still far from that point, but it is obvious that we will get to the moment when the last Bitcoin will be mined out. How do you think it is going to affect the cryptoverse?

A: When the last Bitcoin is mined, there will be no new coins to seed the marketplace. The value of Bitcoin will skyrocket.

This interview was made possible by the organizers of the European Blockchain Cruise. This one of a kind crypto event allows you to meet and talk to the members of the cryptoverse, crypto investors, VCs and most influential people in the world of digital economy, while on board of a comfortable ship.